Gay Chicago

First Tuesdays, 7-9pm (doors at 6pm) at Sidetrack. Welcoming new storytellers to the OUTspoken! stage; unique first hand tales from across our diverse community. Inspired, inspiring, funny, heartbreaking - like life…with friends all around you. Typically there will be 6 storytellers and one intermission.

Every Tuesday + Thursday 7-9pm practice at Clarendon Park Community Center, 4501 N Clarendon Ave. Social and fundraising events at Replay, Sidetrack, Hydrate and other venues - see their facebook page for upcoming events.

When they feel like it Rock/Punk/New Wave queer night hosted/ co-curated by Donnie + Madison Moore of ABSOLUTELY NOT. New/exciting local bands from Chicago/ beyond perform onstage. Previously 3rd Wednesdays - now "held WHENEVER THE #$%! WE FEEL LIKE IT! So get pumped for STACKED bills, SIQQ hosts, and of course MORE GLITTER! Keep your eyes peeled and brows on fleek!"

Ongoing at Art Institute. 44 iconic works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns. These paintings, sculptures, and photographs transform the museum’s presentation of contemporary art, bringing new depth and perspective to the Art Institute’s already strong holdings, making this collection the strongest of any encyclopedic art museum in the world.

Six Chicago artists joined forces and exhibit together in the mid-1960s

Hairy Who? 1966–1969

Ongoing through January 26, 2019. Jim Falconer, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Suellen Rocca, and Karl Wirsum transformed the art landscape of Chicago, injecting new and unique voices into the city’s rising national and international profile. Vividly unbridled yet also formally refined, their work embodied irreverence and youthful fearlessness.

January 1, 2019, 7am-1pm. One of the best afterhours dance parties now in circulation takes Chicago by storm. A NO FRILLS event: No dancers, no hosts, no drama, no attitude, no one bothering you, no fucks given. Stay up all night, or take a puppy nap. Trying to look fresh for the party? Don't bother: it's too dark/ foggy for anyone to see. DJs Serving Ovahness (LA) + Alex Cabot.

The lights go down, the men come out - Party the first Wednesday of every month

Men's Room Wednesday

January 2 + February 6, 2019, 9pm-2am. Team Sidetrack is geared-up and ready to Party! Join us each first Wednesday of the month for naughty games to win fun prizes with Dixie Lynn Cartwright! As always, our friends from Men's Room Chicago will be here with an awesome Pop-Up Shop and cool giveaways! No Cover…it's Sidetrack. Next: March 6th.

At the dawn of the millennium in a darkened church in northern Uganda...

Cardboard Piano

January 9 - March 17, 2019, 8pm. The daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl attempt a makeshift wedding. But the brutality of the war around them encroaches on their fragile union, forcing them to face a reality they cannot escape. The religious/ cultural roots of intolerance, exploring violence, its aftermath, and the human capacity for hatred, forgiveness, and love.

January 10 - February 10, 2019, TH/FR/SA 7:30pm, SU 3:30pm. Inspired by the secret coded diaries of Yorkshire gentlewoman Anne Lister, detailing affairs with various women in the early 19th Century. Donoghue is best known for her novel and subsequent screenplay and stage play of ROOM. This will be the US premiere of I KNOW MY OWN HEART and it will be directed by Elizabeth Swanson.

January 10 - February 16, 2019, 7:30pm (Sun 3pm). Two gay couples and their friends venture into the world of modern parenting. As friendships deepen, vulnerabilities are exposed, and foundations of family and commitment shaken. With marriage equality the law of the land, DADA WOOF PAPA HOT explores the many ways that lives change and relationships shift when children enter the picture.

January 11, 18, 2019, 9pm-2am. Come play with the bearded, the burly and their admirers; prowl + paw all the fleece and flannel in motion … it’s a Onesie Party! DJ RonS will mix up all your favorite nighttime tunes and more! $7 Bear-Sized Miller Lite drafts, $4 Fireballs and $3 Hamm's Tall Boys on special all day & night! No cover, no attitude, all bears in pajamas!

Recorded in London, Ian McKellen's theater performance on the cinema screen

National Theatre Live: King Lear, by Jonathan Munby

January 15, 2019, 6pm. A contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's tender, violent, moving and shocking play. Perhaps the greatest tragedy ever written, Lear sees two ageing fathers - one a King, one his courtier - reject the children who truly love them, unleashing a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state plunge into a violent power struggle with bitter ends.

Live for the Applause, celebrate the opening of the Enigma Residency...

All Things Gaga

January 16, 2019, 9pm-2am. Get on stage as if A Star Is Born to lip sync to your favorite Lady Gaga songs and win Fun Prizes with hostess, Dixie Lynn Cartwright. A mix of Gaga-inspired Party Music for you to Just Dance to all night long. Enjoy a Perfect Illusion with Gaga tribute drag performances by Krissy Feetface, Evah Envy and Khloe Park. You were Born This Way for Gagariffic FUN!

January 18 - February 24, 2019. Annual multi-arts non-narrative, multidisciplinary fringe festival; new theatrical works by invited artists/ companies. The longest-running multi-arts fringe festival in Chicago, the Rhino features works in theater and performance from Chicago companies and national artists alike.

January 19, 2019, midnight cult classic screenings: The Rocky Horror Picture Show features the Midnight Madness shadowcast, with audience participation of course! At The Music Box, 3733 N Southport Ave. See schedule for more midnight movies at their website:

January 22, 2019, 7:30-10:30pm. January projects by or about lesbians! Lesbian themed film and/or characters, part of an 8-week festival of women's programs - stories -- love stories, dramas, student films on the screen!

February 8, 2019, 9pm. BOY HARSHER is a dark electronic duo that produces gritty dance beats infused with ethereal vocals, creating a sound that is eerie, intense and incredibly danceable. GRÜN WASSER is inspired by the juxtaposition of beauty and tragedy in the world.

February 28, March 1-2, 7-9, 2019, 7:30pm (also 2pm Mar 9th). With echoes of Stoppard, Kafka and The Brothers Grimm, about a writer in a totalitarian state being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and similarities to the M.O. in a series of child murders. An urgent work of theatrical bravura and an unflinching examination of the very nature and purpose of art.

Early May, 2019, the Chicago Film Critics Association week-long selection of films including recent festival favorites and as-yet-undistributed works from a wide variety of filmmakers. The only major film critics group hosting its own festival. Features works from around the globe and offers viewers an eclectic blend of raunchy comedy, introspective drama and mind-blowing fantasy.

May 24, 2019, 10pm-5am. Joe Whitaker/ The Dilf Party Present Hot House Music Beats by DJs TBA. The F*kr Party For Men! The Hottest USA Jock Party is back to kick off the IML Weekend. Encouraged: jockstraps, harnessess, suspender straps. Get Strapped + Geared Up for Fun! Hot Dirty House Music + Hot Dirty Fun - Only at the World Famous Jackhammer! Clothes Check Available.

Early June, 2019, the 54th annual Andersonville summer street festival; around 50,000 people fill Clark Street each year, from Foster to Catalpa for music for cutting-edge bands, ethnic dance troupes, lots of food, and vendor wares. Born out of Andersonville’s Swedish heritage, Midsommarfest will transport you back to old-world Swedish traditions.

Early June, 2019, on N Wells St, between North Ave and Division St. Glass and ceramics, to pencil drawings and oil paintings - a diverse mix of nearly 200-plus juried artists + free educational workshops + tasty cuisine from the neighborhood’s eclectic restaurants and cool music stage acts. A treasure trove of creativity in Chicago’s historic Old Town neighborhood.

June, 2019 Pride Month events, with two day Pride Fest, and final Sunday Parade June 23rd (TBC), from N Halsted at Belmont to Lincoln Park by way of Broadway & Diversey. The Pride Street Festival, takes place on N Halsted, with music, food, vendors. Dozens more social, cultural, athletic & political events. See website for 2018 media + 2019 updates:

August 10-11, 2019 (TBC), 11am-10pm. Celebrating its 38th anniversary, the annual street fair on 6 blocks of N Halsted, between Belmont and Addison; many musical acts, multiple stages; hundreds of food, arts and crafts vendors. Dozens of gay bars, dance clubs, restaurants, stores and a bathhouse surround the festival site. A crowd of over 180,000 people arrives from across the globe.

Mid October, 2019, 12 days at AMC River East 21, 322 E Illinois St. Oldest competitive North American film festival, founded in 1964 to provide an alternative to commercial Hollywood movies that dominated city theaters. 12-day world-renowned annual event with the best in international cinema, new talents, and windows to a world of film previously or otherwise unavailable in Chicago.

October 31, 2019 (TBC). The 23rd Annual Halloween Parade, 5-10pm up N Halsted from Belmont, to Addison, with cash prize awards and live entertainment. Registration on Halsted just north of Belmont near The Playground Theater, 5-7pm for Costume Contest in one of five categories.

Mid-November, 2019. Affirming diversity in gender/ sexual expression within the Black LGBTQ community, and celebrating stories of Black LGBTQ-identified people through the art of film. Two days of screenings at The Reva and David Logan Center. Tickets and line up details at website: